Freebies worth Rs 1 cr: That’s inside the goodie bag each Oscar nominee gets

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Freebies worth Rs 1 cr: That’s inside the goodie bag each Oscar nominee gets

All the nominees in the 2023 Oscar get a swag bag whether they win the Academy honors or not. The bag has a diverse array of goodies varying from small businesses to world-renowned brands.

A Los Angels based marketing company Distinctive Assets has been distributing gift bags to Oscar nominees since 2002 but is unaffiliated with the Academy.

The ‘Everyone wins’ gift bags are estimated to be worth a whopping $1,26,000 this year.

This year the bag has over 60 items and is filled with several beauty and lifestyle gifts, it has tickets for luxury vacations that include a $40,000 getaway to a Canadian estate named ‘The Lifestyle’. It also includes a stay for eight people including friends and relatives in an Italian lighthouse.

The gift also has a symbolic souvenir for a piece of land in Queensland, Australia.

The gift bag also includes a $25,000 coupon for project management and a home restoration fee from Maison construction. There are coupons for lipo arm sculpting, facelift, and hair restoration services.

There will be a Havaianas suitcase this year to deliver the gifts and 50 percent of the products reportedly come from companies that are women and minority-owned.

The gift packs will have skin care products from Miage, a silk pillowcase from Blush Silks, a travel pillow from PETA, and products from Ariadne Athens Skin Wellness, Daily Energy Cards, Kind Reason Co, Rarete Studios, ReFa, Proflexa, Oxygenetix, and many others.

The gift pack that comprises of least expensive gifts includes a pack of Clif Thins priced at $13.56 and an $18 loaf of Japanese milk bread from Ginza Nishikawa.

Even as the products and services in the bag come for free, the recipient will have to pay taxes for it as it is considered as income.

Interestingly the company Distinctive Assets had a direct confrontation with the Academy awards committee in 2016 when the gift bag had marijuana vape pens, sex toys, and a vampire breast lift. The Academy does not want to link with it and hence Distinctive Assets can no longer use the trademark of the Academy.

Another controversy of 2016 was that it included a gift hamper for a $55,000 vacation to Israel that come from the Israel tourism ministry and the travel company ExploreIsrael.com. Several organizations came out against this which include Jewish Voice For Peace, and the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation.

It may be noted that the 2020 gift bag is rated as the most expensive and is estimated at $225,000. The gifts included a 24K gold Royal Charka bath bomb, a 24K gold vape pen from Hollowtips, and a $20,000 one-year membership to a matchmaking service.

Oscars 2023: Shantanu-Nikhil outfit for Ram Charan; Upasana’s silk made with recycled scrap

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Oscars 2023: Shantanu-Nikhil outfit for Ram Charan; Upasana’s silk made with recycled scrap

Tollywood star Ram Charan and his wife Upasana, who attended the Oscar presentations and witnessed the momentous occasion, caught the eye, dressed to the hilt in Indian sartorial elegance.

In a reflection of his character in ‘RRR’, Ram Charan came outfitted in an ensemble from Shantanu & Nikhil styled by Nikita Jaisinghani.

“Ram is playing the character of a fighter, who empowers the ones in need, and stands strong for his beliefs. The ensemble has military nuances, which have always been the signature of Shantanu & Nikhil’s ethos. The bandhgala has customized Chakra button, and medallion-inspired brooches, layered over the classic S&N feminine drape kurta with a gender fluid twist that celebrates the new India and goes beyond borders, the designers elaborated.

The event also had Upasana Kamineni Konidela in attendance with her husband Ram Charan to support and cheer Team RRR’s nomination at the Oscars. She was elegantly attired in a sustainable customized ivory silk saree made using hand-woven silk, of spun fabric, created from recycled scraps, designed by Hyderabad-based designer, Jayanti Reddy.

On RRR’s historic win at the Oscars, Upasana Kamineni Konidela said: “We are immensely proud to represent India in this glorious win at the Oscars. It has been a long time coming and is a testament to all the hard work that the RRR team has put in, as well as a tribute to Indian talent worldwide. Here’s for you India!”

‘An unforgettable day for Indians’: Tollywood celebrates Oscar for ‘RRR’

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‘An unforgettable day for Indians’: Tollywood celebrates Oscar for ‘RRR’

Tollywood is celebrating the historic achievement of Rajamouli’s epic movie ‘RRR’ at the 95th Academy Awards. Several Telugu film stars and celebrities conveyed their compliments to the ‘RRR’ team Monday after the award for Best Original Song category was announced.

“Congratulations to the entire team of ‘RRR’ movie on bringing Indian cinema glory,” tweeted veteran Tollywood director K. Raghavendra Rao under whose tutelage Rajamouli had begun his movie career.”

“And there you go… NAATU NAATU!! Crossing all boundaries!! Congratulations to @mmkeeravaani garu, @boselyricist, and the entire team of #RRR on their phenomenal win at the Oscars!! A jubilant moment for Indian cinema” stated Tollywood star, Mahesh Babu. He also praised ‘The Elephant Whisperers’ team.

“Congratulations to the entire team of #TheElephantWhisperers on winning the Best Documentary Short…a fantastic film and another phenomenal win,” Mahesh Babu noted.

“We’ve created history. An unforgettable day for Indians,” stated Tollywood’s Mass Maharaja, Ravi Teja.

Star and politician, Pawan Kalyan, who also happens to be Ram Charan’s uncle, also complimented the ‘RRR’ team on Monday. Similarly, NTR Jr’s uncle and star Balakrishna also expressed happiness over ‘Naatu Naatu’ earning global recognition.

NTR Jr says his ‘legs still hurt’ from shooting ‘Naatu Naatu’

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NTR Jr says his ‘legs still hurt’ from shooting ‘Naatu Naatu’

Superstar NTR Jr says that the steps from his iconic number ‘Naatu Naatu’ from the film ‘RRR’ were not tough, but it was the “sync” which was tougher. He adds that his “legs still hurt” from shooting the song, for which he and his co-star practiced over three hours every day.

In an interview with Entertainment Tonight, NTR Jr was asked if there was a moment when this film is crossing all global lines and everyone is loving it.

The Indian actor replied: “We had no idea. The experience of shooting that song, I have been telling this… My legs still hurt.”

“The steps were not hard but what was harder was the sync. We were practicing it every day for three hours. We were rehearsing it while we were shooting that song… we rehearsed a week before we shot for that song and we were rehearsing on set as well. It was only for synchronization.”

How does it feel to add an Academy award-nominee to his list of accolades?

NTR Jr replied with a smile: “What else could an actor ask for, what else would a filmmaker ask for to be a part of thE biggest celebration of cinema globally, the Oscars.”

He added on the big day, he would not be walking the red carpet as an actor but as an Indian.

“For that day… I think we are not going to walk as actors in ‘RRR’. I am not going to walk as an actor from the Indian film industry. I am going to walk as an Indian on that carpet with pride filled in my heart carrying my nation in my heart.”

S.S. Rajamouli’s ‘RRR’ bagged a nomination in the Best Original Song category at the 95th Oscar Awards for its livewire track ‘Naatu Naatu’. The grand event will be held on March 12.

The track, composed by M. M. Keeravani, brought home the first Indian and Asian song to win the Best Original Song award at the 80th Golden Globe Awards in January.

Jennifer Lawrence hired to date a 19-year-old in ‘No Hard Feelings’ trailer

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Jennifer Lawrence hired to date a 19-year-old in ‘No Hard Feelings’ trailer

Actress Jennifer Lawrence stars in the raunchy comedy ‘No Hard Feelings’ whose trailer highlights her character’s attempt to seduce a 19-year-old boy.

In the movie, Lawrence stars as Maddie, a down-on-her-luck Uber driver in need of some quick cash to save her childhood home after an ex-boyfriend/tow truck driver, Gary, (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) repossesses her car.

A now-out-of-work Uber driver, Maddie stumbles upon an interesting offer from two rich parents, who are looking for someone to “date” their socially awkward teenage son, reports aceshowbiz.com.

Matthew Broderick and Laura Benanti play the wealthy parents, who are trying to get their college-bound son Percy (Andrew Barth Feldman) “out of the shell” before he goes to Princeton. In an exchange for a new car, Maddie agrees to “date” the teenager.

The video goes on to show Maddie’s failed attempts to sleep with Gary and the hilarity that ensues. In one scene, Maddie approaches Gary at an animal shelter and asks him, “Mind if I touch your wiener?” before making it clear that she’s referring to a Dachshund wiener dog that he’s holding.

Maddie then offers to drive Gary home in a van, but she ends up getting pepper sprayed in the face as he thinks she’s trying to kidnap him. She takes him on a dinner date and to a party, goes skinny dipping with him, and dances seductively in front of him.

From director Gene Stupnitsky’s Good Boys’, who co-wrote ‘Bad Teacher’, ‘No Hard Feelings’ is described as a laugh-out-loud, edgy comedy.

According to the official synopsis, “On the brink of losing her childhood home, Maddie discovers an intriguing job listing: wealthy helicopter parents looking for someone to ‘date’ their introvert 19-year-old son, Percy, before he leaves for college. To her surprise, Maddie soon discovers the awkward Percy is no sure thing.”

Natalie Morales and Scott MacArthur join the cast as Maddie’s friends. John Phillips co-wrote the script, with Lawrence also serving as producer alongside Naomi Odenkirk, Justine Polsky, and Marc Provissiero.

The coming-of-age comedy is scheduled to be released in US theatres on June 23.

Grace Van Dien is ‘turning down acting projects’ after ‘sexual advances’ from movie producer

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Grace Van Dien is ‘turning down acting projects’ after ‘sexual advances’ from movie producer

‘Stranger Things star Grace Van Dien is opening up about a bad experience on a recent movie set that is causing her to be more selective with her acting projects.

In a Twitch stream on Tuesday, Van Dien – who played Chrissy Cunningham on the most recent season of ‘Stranger Things’ – revealed that she has turned down four movie roles in the last two-and-a-half weeks and will be focusing more of her time on streaming, reports ‘Variety’.

“Here’s the thing, I have seen that some people are upset with me for turning down acting projects and deciding to stream more, but the fact of the matter is the last few projects I’ve worked on I didn’t have the best experiences with some of the people I had to work for,” Van Dien said.

She then alleged that a film producer made unwanted sexual advances toward her on set.

“One of the last movies I did, one of the producers asked me to… like, he hired a girl that he was sleeping with and then he had her ask me to have a threesome with them,” Van Dien said.

“So… that’s my boss. And then I didn’t and I cried and I was so upset. But when people are like, ‘How is streaming better for your mental health?’ That’s how. I get to stay inside my house and play video games and I don’t have my boss asking me to have sex with them.”

Van Dien added that though she’s sticking to streaming for now, she hopes to get back into show business soon – and on her own terms.

“I’m happy here, and I’m developing my own projects,” she said. “I’m hoping that someone decides to fund them because then I can be in control of my own set, and I’m not gonna ask my actors to sleep with me.”

Beyond ‘Stranger Things’, Van Dien has also recently appeared in ‘V for Vengeance’ and the Toronto Film Festival selection ‘What Comes Around’.

We are going to carry the whole nation in our hearts as we walk the red carpet: NTR Jr

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We are going to carry the whole nation in our hearts as we walk the red carpet: NTR Jr

With the Academy Awards almost here, actor NTR Jr has landed in Los Angeles to attend the Oscars where the epic period action drama RRR’s Naatu Naatu is nominated in the ‘Best Original Song’ category after a smashing win at the Golden Globes.

While the actor’s loyal fandom is all excited to see their idol walk the red carpet at the Oscars, the global icon in a recent interview with KTLA, an LA-based news channel, explained how it will not just be him walking the red carpet but the entire country.

“I don’t think it’s going to be NTR Jr or Komaram Bheem who is going to walk the red carpet. It’s going to be India who will be walking the red carpet. We are going to carry the whole nation in our hearts as we walk the red carpet, I am looking forward to that!” said NTR Jr.

In the interview, the actor also mentioned how he is looking forward to watching music composer M.M. Keeravani and singers Rahul Sipligunj and Kaala Bhairava perform the song on the Oscar stage.

Back home in India after the success of RRR, NTR Jr will soon begin working on his next NTR 30 with director Koratala Siva along with Janhvi Kapoor which will release on the big screens on 5th April 2024.

IIFA Technical Awards: ‘Gangubai Kathiawadi’, ‘Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2’ top winners

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IIFA Technical Awards: ‘Gangubai Kathiawadi’, ‘Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2’ top winners

The International Indian Film Academy and Awards (IIFA) has announced its technical winners for 2022. There is a total of nine categories of technical awards which include cinematography, screenplay, dialogue, choreography, sound design, editing, special effects (visuals), background score, and sound design.

Of these, Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s ‘Gangubai Kathiawadi’ leads the pack as it bagged 3 awards – Best Cinematography was won by DOP Sudeep Chatterjee, Best Screenplay went to Sanjay Leela Bhansali and Utkarshini Vashishtha, and Best Dialogues was conferred upon Utkarshini Vashishtha and Prakash Kapadia.

The Kartik Aaryan and Kiara Advani-starrer horror comedy, ‘Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2’ won Best Choreography for the title track by choreographer duo, Bosco-Caesar, and Best Sound Design by Mandar Kulkarni.

Bollywood superstar Ajay Devgn’s crime thriller ‘Drishyam 2’ won the award for Best Editing by Sandeep Francis. Similarly, the Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt-starrer action adventure, ‘Brahmastra: Part One-Shiva’ took home the trophy for another post-production work – Best Special Effects (Visual) by DNEG, Redefine.

While Hrithik Roshan and Saif Ali Khan’s ‘Vikram Vedha’ was awarded the Best Background Score designed by Sam CS, the Rajkummar Rao, Huma Qureshi, and Radhika Apte-starrer streaming film ‘Monica O My Darling’ bagged the Best Sound Mixing (Gunjan A. Sah, Boloy Kumar Doloi and Rahul Karpe).

The 23rd edition of IIFA is set to be held at Yas Island, Abu Dhabi from May 26 through May 27. IIFA Rocks will be hosted by Karan Johar and Farah Khan with live performances by Amit Trivedi, Badshah, Sunidhi Chauhan, Nucleya, Mika Singh, and Sukhbir.

The global IIFA Awards will be hosted by Vicky Kaushal and Abhishek Bachchan. The IIFA magic will escalate with live performances by Bollywood A-listers like Salman Khan, Varun Dhawan, Jacqueline Fernandez, Rakul Preet Singh, and Nora Fatehi.

Blessing in disguise: ‘Class’ actress Ayesha Kanga recounts being fired as designer

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Blessing in disguise: ‘Class’ actress Ayesha Kanga recounts being fired as designer

Actress Ayesha Kanga, who is currently basking in the success of her recently released streaming show ‘Class’, is thrilled with the announcement of the show’s season 2.

The actress, a design professional and an alumnus of the National Institute of Design (NID), would have worked throughout her life as a graphic designer but the future had other plans for her as she got fired from her job and started looking out for modeling opportunities, given her proximity to the fashion world.

Walking down memory lane, she said, “I have always wanted to be an artist, getting into NID was my biggest goal and after I got in, I studied graphic design, and I thought I would do that my entire life. Then one day I got fired from my job and I happened to look elsewhere which is when modeling came by. I have always been interested in fashion, I would follow fashion brands and Indian models very closely from a young age. I even noticed a tilt in Indian campaigns as to how brown women were considered a lot more than just white faces”.

She further mentioned, “We stopped using quintessential faces in high-end fashion campaigns and I was interested in being a part of that. I would, in fact, creatively direct campaigns, style my own shoots, and loved doing my own hair and makeup- all because I enjoyed image making and wanted to be a part of these creative processes. It was a fulfilling journey..

‘Class’ is an adaptation of the Spanish series ‘Elite’ created by Carlos Montero and Dario Madrona.

Lauding the director of ‘Class’ – Ashim Ahluwalia, the actress said, “Ashim is an evil genius, he has such a profound understanding of what he wants things to look and feel like. Everyone has to surrender to his vision and they don’t even mind because it’s stunning”.

“There is always a conflict between art and commerce but his work is such a good indication that art will always persevere. Working with him was great, he really knows how to get performance out of newcomers. The show exists because he did, we exist on the show because of him. I respect him immensely and it would be a dream to work with him again in any capacity”, she concluded.

Want to be like Geeta from my debut film: Kashka Kapoor on Women’s Day

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Want to be like Geeta from my debut film: Kashka Kapoor on Women’s Day

As women around the world celebrate Women’s Day on Wednesday, Bollywood is not far behind. Actress Kashika Kapoor, a young talent in Bollywood, related to the central idea behind her debut movie.

“Being a woman is like having several jobs rolled into one. Women are the true heroes of society. However, seldom do we acknowledge their brilliance, and my debut film ‘Ayushmati Geeta Matric Pass’, is one such film that will leave a very strong message in the minds of the audience. On Women’s day, I want to tell everyone, women don’t need a celebration or any validation! That’s what a man needs when he truly understands the power, the impact, and the force of a woman!”

‘Ayushmati Geeta Matric Pass’, is a biopic based on Ayushmati Geeta and where Kashika will be seen portraying a strong character based on powerful women like her.

The actress wishes all her loved one’s a very happy women’s day, saying: “I want to be like Geeta from my debut film, who can face any hardships but will happily fulfill her dream.”

She went on to say: “In my film AGMP, I am fortunate enough to play the hero of the story, where the entire story revolves around me and the sacrifices and struggles that she faces to achieve her dreams. It’s a day to celebrate the spirit of womanhood. As my film would make sure to do its bit toward the change, we all want to see. I could proudly say that my film will leave you with an aftertaste of inspiration and some encouragement to believe in yourself.”

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